Category: Duncraig Primary School

Duncraig Primary School (in WA) has sent us some year 5 students’ book reviews.* We’ll be posting two reviews a day for the next 5 days so stay tuned!

Toy Story 3: Book of the film, by Jasmine Jones. ISBN 9781407583891, Parragon Book Service Ltd.

Reviewed by Alex, age 10, Duncraig Primary.

This book is a fiction because it has live toys in it and it’s cartoon.

Setting: Sunnyside day-care, Andy’s house, the tip, 2010.

Plot: Andy tries to decide what to do with his old toys when he moves to college. They get taken to the day-care centre where the children damage them and the other toys are evil. They try to get back home to Andy’s but they have to get past some obstacles like being trapped in a cage.

Theme: It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can always play with baby toys.

The point of view is first person. The author wrote this book because maybe when she went to college she had to give away her toys. I liked this book because I thought I was in another world playing with the toys and sometimes being the toys and it was also a bit sad which made it good and it was funny and cute.

It was also interesting and had a lot of detail and made me want to play with my toys a lot more.

Wow! What a great read! I am sure you will love it. It had me on the edge of my seat wondering and wanting to know what would happen next.

10-year-old Zoe’s chicken pox is the least of her problems. And as if that’s not hard enough, try this: while Zoe is off sick, her best friend Iris goes off with the new girl Isabelle. If you want to find out why, read the book. It is especially hard for Zoe being excluded by her best friend. Will Zoe overcome this challenge or will her life be ruined all because of Isabelle? But why is Isabelle being so mean?

This book will help you if you ever face the same problems as Zoe, Isabelle and Iris do in real life. It includes lots of things children will love and laugh at. This book will have you feeling over the moon and teach you how to deal with bullies.

Personally I thought Iris as a character was not very well-developed and all over the place even though she was one of the main characters. I thought Olivia and Ching-Ching’s part by the handball courts was a good idea—although it was not very important to the plot.

With fantastic illustrations by Ash Oswald, this book was published in 2006 by E2. The New Girl is aimed for children 8 years and up.

This book has everything you want in a fantasy: a bizarre man who owns a chocolate factory, a timid boy who is very poor, two grandpas, two grandmas and two parents.

Everyone in this book loves chocolate, especially Mr Willy Wonka. He is mysterious and he is always thinking of new chocolates that he could make. He even made chewing gum even though he hates it. The boy, Charlie Bucket, only gets one chocolate bar every year and there are five golden tickets on the loose hidden in the chocolate bars. Charlie really would like one but he doesn’t think there is a chance.

This book is humorous and has 190 pages. The book is suitable for the age of 9 and up.

This book is part of a stimulating series—‘Go Girl! Angels.’ The angels are a group of six girls and they each have a goal to complete.

Have you ever wanted your name engraved on a glistening, silver plaque? That is what the angels will receive; all of their names will be engraved—Lucy, Sophie, Annabelle, Bonnie, Lola and Chloe.

The main character of this book is Lucy, a born leader who will help organise this next team terrific challenge; a series of events in which the angels compete against different teams.

Lucy’s older sister, Frankie, is traveling to Spain for a year. She wants to help the angels practise their performance. The agels admire Frankie and wish to be more like her but Lucy thinks Frankie is just getting in the way when she is trying to help.

Everybody in the angels is good at dancing, except two who are clumsy. Lucy wants to help them out, without huting their feelings. Will Lucy be able to make them better dancers, or will they ruin the performance? At the performance a huge catastrophe occurs and Lucy is at fault. Will anyone be able to solve it?

This tale will leave you leaning off the edge of your seat thinking of what will happen next. As you read this story you will feel like you are in another world in Lucy’s shoes and dancing your troubles away. This story is perfect for you if you like reading books about friends cooperating, and helping each other out. This incredible narrative introduces problems, friendship and comes with a moral.

My favourite part of this book is when Lucy does a nice gesture. This book includes loyal friends, helpful sisters, a boy band who call themselves The Devils and a bond between six girls which can never be broken.

Lucky Stars is suitable for people 8 years and above. There are 89 moving pages to read.

This book has everything: excitement, thrills, brave young foxes, three very mean farmers and a fantastic Mr Fox. Can the foxes survive when they are forced to starve? If they dare to leave their underground burrow they will risk being shot at by the mean farmers. Does Mr Fox deserve to be shot at just because he is trying to feed his family? Mr Fox steals his food from the farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean, and this is why he is being hunted down and the farmers want to kill him. Boggis is a chicken farmer, Bunce is a duck and goose farmer and Bean is a turkey and apple farmer.

This book makes you feel like you’re right there with the characters. What I also liked about this book is that you have no clue of what’s about to happen next. Roald Dahl has a lot of books but I loved this book most of all of his books. At the end it tells you about the other books he has written.

This is a great book that is recommended for all ages. So find a friend and read to the end!

This book has all you need in a gripping story about a boy, a mysterious mountain, unknown dangers and maybe even a … dragon! The book is based in a quiet village called Rin, with a very tall overlooking mountain. Something has stopped the river from flowing down to the village so Rowan, the scaredy cat of the village, has to be accompanied by six other companions to try to see what the problem is.

You will love this story if you love adventure and drama. This book also has long and exciting chapters that will blow your mind. It has a beautiful cover illustration by Jane Tanner, with Rowan, and the mountain overlooking him in the background.

Is there really a dragon at the top of the mountain or is it the villagers’ imagination?

Rowan of Rin is suited for children from ten years and up. If I loved this book, I’m sure you will too.

Wow, this book was awesome. It has everything you need to feel like you are experiencing life in the shoes of Lucy the drama queen.

Lucy’s life can be very challenging sometimes, alongside her friends Julies and Matilda who help Lucy through her good times and her bad. Throughout the book they have their trying times. Will they get through them? In this marvellous book you will discover many different things that a girl can actually experience, like having a secret pooch plan to attract a gorgeous boy. Will Lucy’s plan succeed?

The author, Kelly McKain, lives in a small flat in Chiswick, West London, with a fridge full of chocolate. Kelly McKain would love to go on a flying trapeze. She loves to write and I think she has done a wonderful job with this gobsmacking, totally awesome book. I think Kelly McKain has used her own life experiences to write this story suitable for 10 to 15 year olds. She is a clever author and she should keep writing these wonderful books. Kelly McKain has also written other books in the series, such as Makeover Magic, Style School, Planet Fashion and plenty more.

Also to thank: Vici Leyhane for her great black-and-white illustrations. I think she has done a wonderful job drawing everyone. It nearly looks like they are real.

I hope that you read this marvellous book and you enjoy it as much as I did.